1930s
When Thief Meets Thief
One of the weirdest writers in history was Harry Stephen Keeler.His sentences were as eccentric as his plots. Viz:
"I know how to get to the inside of a chilled-steel receptacle with no more noise than a cockroach, drunk after emerging from an uncorked gin-bottle in a garbage can, would make as he sneaked back to Mrs. C., waiting up to biff him on the beezer for leaving her to mind the youngsters while he went skyhooting. "
That gem comes from When Thief Meets Thief.
You may read the first chapter here.
Or listen to it below.
Or buy the book here.
For subsequent chapters, visit here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 28, 2013 -
Comments (18)
Category: Literature, Stupid Criminals, Outsider Art, 1930s
The Original Rock Dinner
Original page here.
In 1939, Kent Knowlton of Randsburg, CA, assembled a curious meal of petrified food for his amusement and that of others.
We have a record that it was still being exhibited a year later. Then, the "Original Rock Dinner" vanishes from history--until this very year!
An article on the "ghost town" of Randsburg features what appears to be a photo of the petrified food, nearly 75 years after its debut. I'd recognize that "cauliflower" anywhere!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 26, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Food, Regionalism, 1930s, 1940s, Natural Wonders
Poetry of the Insane
While he was attending physician at the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane, Dr. Charles Mayos collected poems that were written by his patients. Of course, all poets are a bit insane, but the ones that interested him were actually locked up and labeled psychotic. Eventually, in 1933, he published a collection of this verse in a book he titled Poetry of the Insane. [St. Petersburg Times]
The publisher mustn't have thought there was a large market for such a book, because only 300 copies of it were printed , which now makes it quite rare — and valuable. Copies fetch up to $200.
I've never got my hands on a copy of the book. (Not willing to pay that much for it.) Below is the only poem from it I can find online. I've read much worse poetry from people who are supposedly sane.
Awakening by Anonymous |
| The hue of sorrow everywhere The jagged rocks seem marble tombs, Yet through the barren waste way over there, A lily blooms. As up the rugged heights revealed, I creep, and deem the world as wrong; A singer trills above the love unsealed, His mating song. I pierce the gloom with purer eyes, For here I know that Heaven is — I yield my empty self and realize These are all His. |
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 15, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Books, 1930s, Mental Health and Insanity
Sam and Sadie, Hollywood Martyrs
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 29, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Hollywood, Insects and Spiders, 1930s
Weird Snowmen
Evil snowmen is a horror trope that had never occurred to me. But I'm sure it's in one Stephen King novel or another already.
Anthropomorphic icicles is another notion I was blissfully unfamiliar with. Can they really run far enough and fast enough to the north to escape Spring?
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 28, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Destruction, Evil, Seasonal, Cartoons, 1930s, 1960s, Fictional Monsters
Naked woman in a box of rabbit fur
The University of Washington Library staff posted this mysterious image on their flickr stream. Why is this naked woman lounging in a box of rabbit fur? No one knows. The only info the UW staff has is that the image was taken around 1930 by photographer Vern Grost, perhaps in Washington state. They speculate it may show some kind of promotional event for the Angora rabbit fur industry.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 18, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Photography and Photographers, 1930s
Joe Magarac
The steel mill equivalent of Paul Bunyan? Who knew?
Original comic strip here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 10, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Regionalism, Industry, Factories and Manufacturing, Myths and Fairytales, Superheroes, 1930s, 1950s, North America
Johnson Smith Catalog Item #28
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 08, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Johnson Smith Catalog, 1930s, Weapons
1930’s SWAT Team
Fascinating look at at the Minute-Men Cops.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 29, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Cops, 1930s
| Who We Are |
|---|
| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |